Prep Basketball --Area teams earn playoff spots

By Staff Reports
Published in Sports on February 18, 2018 3:08 AM

• Print
• Email

Seven area prep basketball outfits were selected as playoff-worthy troupes by the N.C. High School Athletic Association on Saturday, with Carolina 1A champion Rosewood and Goldsboro High sharing the readership's highest seed.

RHS, which won its league tournament on Friday night in Smithfield, will open play at home on Tuesday versus Franklin Academy of Wake Forest.

The Patriots, third-place finishers in the North Central conference, enter the contest with an overall mark of 11-13.

Goldsboro will entertain First Flight of Kill Devil Hills (15-9), which leans heavily on the long distance dialing of sophomore guard Dylan Blake, who averages 23 points per game.

Princeton, who finished the regular-season with a 14-10 mark under first-year head coach David Cobb, earned a 15-seed -- good enough for a home tilt versus No. 18 Riverside High (16-10) of Williamston.

Southern Wayne (7-18) will travel to face Northern Durham (22-3), winners of the Big Eight 3A conference.

On the girls' side, Eastern Wayne (19-6) will play host to No. 17 Western Alamance and senior guard Emily Loy, who averages 12.6 points per game.

Goldsboro (12-12), which upset highly-touted Midway last Thursday in the East Central 2A conference tournament, drew the East Region's No. 25 seed and will face No. 8 Bertie (16-8) -- which captured a share of the Northeastern Coastal league title with Pasquotank County.

Rounding out matters is No. 23 Princeton High, which returns to the postseason a year after parting ways with a trio of seniors that helped author a 22-5 overall mark and a Carolina 1A title under head coach Paula Wooten.

The Bulldogs will make the trek to face Weldon, the region's No. 10 seed and owners of an 18-2 overall record this season.

As the old phrase goes, let the games begin.